The Team That Lost 134 Games | Baseball Bits

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The 1899 Cleveland Spiders were the worst team in MLB history, at least by winning percentage. The franchise which once boasted future Hall of Famers Cy Young, Bobby Wallace, and Jesse Burkett came to a screeching hault when Frank Robison and his brother Stanley acquired the St. Louis Browns and renamed them to the St. Louis Perfectos. All those legends were stripped from Cleveland and sent to play in St. Louis.

Ballplayers who played with the Spiders in 1899 included veteran catcher Chief Zimmer, player-managers Lave Cross and Joe Quinn, pitchers Jim Hughey and Frank Bates, cigar store clerk Eddie Kolb baseball, and shorstop Harry Lochhead.

This episode also serves as an exploration of 1899, as it's just the 2nd episode of Baseball Bits that deals with 19th century baseball.

In the end, this team won just 20 games while losing 134, making them the MLB worst team ever by most measures, but there's also elements of their story to be celebrated. You'll learn about them here on Baseball Bits, a Foolish Baseball production.
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1899 Spiders BBref: https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLV/1899.shtml
Eddie Kolb SABR: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/373985e9
Cleveland Tourism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM

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